So, considering the Xbox One is x86-based, shouldn't that mean that you could potentially play Xbox 360 games on your PC? There're still many exclusive Xbox 360 titles that never made it to the PC.

The initial 20 or so titles listed have some truly baffling inclusions!

azrael-
So, considering the Xbox One is x86-based, shouldn't that mean that you could potentially play Xbox 360 games on your PC? There're still many exclusive Xbox 360 titles that never made it to the PC.

If you are smart with your emulation the performance hit isn't nearly as bad as it normally is. We saw that back in the UltraHLE days.

I am guessing that they are essentially doing the same, mapping graphics calls and then just emulating the CPU. The 360 had an ATI GPU in it, I would bet there is a lot of call mapping that can be done.

I'm sure the emulation makes use of the fact that AMD supplied the graphics for both the 360 and XB1, and hence at the graphical level it was easier to emulate. I think that would stop the emulation running on a PC, unless maybe you had a specific AMD GPU.

The titles that are being done right now are probably those that used slightly higher level APIs, or meet a certain set of restrictions to work under emulation. Whilst it might not require developer work, it might actually make use of recompiling the original game for x86 and linking to different libraries.

Might mean I consider an XB1 now though

I'm sure they could run them on PCs relatively easily. Especially as all console games are developed on PCs in the first place. They won't though. Why would you cannibalise sales when you can keep them on a platform you control completely and charge developers a premium to release on?

If they had done this 2 years ago I would have probably bought an XBox One.. But they didn't so now I have a PS4.

n14hta
Would have benefitted the launch if it was announced back then, Microsoft must have had the code embedded inside the console.

The Hand;3483428
If they had done this 2 years ago I would have probably bought an XBox One.. But they didn't so now I have a PS4.

Agree with both of these posts - in fact I'd stated (repeatedly) that if XBone had got launch compatibility with the older titles then I would have considered a pre-order, especially as there were pretty decent trade-in deals. What I definitely wasn't going to do was ditch my ‘360 collection - especially as a lot of them have “replay value” for me.

At the risk of repeating myself, if Microsoft want an XBone sale from me then I want this games list expanded greatly and a trade-in deal to entice XBone refuseniks like myself. Actually I’m thinking that the pre-Christmas period would be ideal for the trade-in offering. I'd do a graduated deal with - for example - £100 off for a modern '360 with Kinect and running down appropriately. Great way to entice folks to get the new (more costly) titles while, as The Hand points out, preventing them from defecting to PS4.

I just hope that the XBOne gets hacked and this gets reverse-engineered for PC so that I can finally play GoW 2 and 3 at 60FPS!

n14hta
Microsoft must have had the code embedded inside the console.

Read the article again :p They're not playing from the original discs, just using them for authentication.

n14hta
Would have benefitted the launch if it was announced back then, Microsoft must have had the code embedded inside the console.

Sounds like they need to write a wrapper for each game, that will probably end up being compiled into the emulator on a game-by-game basis to create a new executable.

Don't forget the article states that they will be running “natively”.

I can see this becoming a viable option for me now. I just wish there was a way I could convert my physical versions to downloadable versions that were linked to my account, even if it meant I had to send my discs back to Microsoft so they can be sure I don't sell the media after the game is registered this way.

Looking at the current games list:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/backward-compatibility/available-games

Most are either arcade titles or older ones (which should be easier to port) plus those that already have PC ports/versions (so very easy to edit the existing x86 code for the xbone)

So less technically impossible to run on the the new console than it appears at first glance (I highly doubt emulating the 360's CPU is possible on current hardware). It does seem to me that it'll only ever be certain older titles that'll be backwards compatible, new ones that essentially need the full porting treatment i doubt we'll see many of.

Though the other interesting point is that any of these backwards-compatible games should be very easy to put on the PC if Microsoft wished, windows10 thing maybe?

daddacool
The initial 20 or so titles listed have some truly baffling inclusions!

Rare games. For “Rare Replay”, the retrospective collection of 30 Rare titles from the last 30 years.

Chances are the emulator was written by Rare, and is now being genericized.

crossy
Agree with both of these posts - in fact I'd stated (repeatedly) that if XBone had got launch compatibility with the older titles then I would have considered a pre-order, especially as there were pretty decent trade-in deals. What I definitely wasn't going to do was ditch my ‘360 collection - especially as a lot of them have “replay value” for me.

At the risk of repeating myself, if Microsoft want an XBone sale from me then I want this games list expanded greatly and a trade-in deal to entice XBone refuseniks like myself. Actually I’m thinking that the pre-Christmas period would be ideal for the trade-in offering. I'd do a graduated deal with - for example - £100 off for a modern '360 with Kinect and running down appropriately. Great way to entice folks to get the new (more costly) titles while, as The Hand points out, preventing them from defecting to PS4.

My gut reaction was pretty much the same, though I still have a few reservations about XBOne which would need resolving.

But then I started to think …. as I've got the XB360, what does being able to play my 360 games on the XBOne actually gain me? Why not just play them on the 360?

Also, as I neither have nor want an MS account, don't have or want an 360 Gold account, or whatever it's called, and have zero interest in online Xbox gaming, I then start to question what a XBO gains me even more.

I seem to remember something about online authentication? Where I use my 360, most of the time, there isn't a net connection to connect to, even if I did want to connect it. IIRC, that ruled out XBO on it's own.

All told, while my initial reaction was that it MIGHT rekindle my interest in XBO, a more considered reaction is that it probably won't.

shaithis
I just hope that the XBOne gets hacked and this gets reverse-engineered for PC so that I can finally play GoW 2 and 3 at 60FPS!

Could be a while yet, the nature of handhelds doesn't help but Vita still has very little progress in regards to a native hack. They've hacked into PSP mode so you can run PSP homebrew etc in it but theres been next to no progress on a native hack. It's likely to be the same for the bigger consoles, though I certainly wouldn't mind seeing it happen.

Even the PSP mode hacks depend on abusing hackable game releases with custom modified save files of some sort, I haven't looked into it in depth as theres nothing to interest me yet.

shaithis
I just hope that the XBOne gets hacked and this gets reverse-engineered for PC so that I can finally play GoW 2 and 3 at 60FPS!

Erm, weren't you one of the (many?) folks complaining about sub-standard PC titles that were just ports of the console version?

Besides, if you want to get a Gear fix then I suggest that you get thee to Engadget and take a squint at "'Gears of War: Ultimate Edition' and ‘Killer Instinct’ will come to PC“, and although the article does say it's a console port, this time it's an XBone one and stated to run at your ”magical" 60FPS. Happy now?

crossy
Erm, weren't you one of the (many?) folks complaining about sub-standard PC titles that were just ports of the console version?

Indeed I was/am one of those. When you have taken the time to port something, do it properly. You know, you might just get a surprise at how many sales you make….

crossy
Besides, if you want to get a Gear fix then I suggest that you get thee to Engadget and take a squint at "'Gears of War: Ultimate Edition' and ‘Killer Instinct’ will come to PC“, and although the article does say it's a console port, this time it's an XBone one and stated to run at your ”magical" 60FPS. Happy now?

Thanks, that is damn fine news and probably the biggest E3 hit for me so far :)